Rattlesnake Roundup

Last Friday Mk had a half day of school and it just so happened to be the first day of the Annual Sweetwater Rattlesnake Roundup.  We were especially excited to go this year because one of our friends' daughters won the pageant the night before and was crowned Miss Snake Charmer 2013.  She has an AMAZING voice and is going somewhere, I tell ya!  So we were excited to see her and willing to brave the snakes.  We actually had a lot of fun.  

Friday was the BEST day to go because there were not many people there...we didn't have to fight the crowds to see everything!  Here is a view of the floor of the colloseum...there were vendors selling snakeskin wallets and snakeskin belts and snakeskins and everything. Also there were several pits for the snakes.  

This is the Show Pit.  This gentleman gave a great informative session on rattlesnakes, their nature and safety!  Here he is trying to get the snake to strike at the balloon to demonstrate to us how quickly they strike!

Here is Miss Kyndra Lee herself....she got to show off the snake to all the spectators!  She's so lucky (*sarcasm*)!!!  But she was so good...I would have been a mess if I had to do what she did with all those snakes...she just handled it like a pro!  Mad props, Miss Snake Charmer, Mad props!

While we were at the show pit we saw this guy.  His name is Riley and he is one of  the snake catchers on the tv show "Rattlesnake Republic"

Get a load of those fangs...another part of the show pit!

So the first place the snakes go to is the milking pit where they get milked for their venom.

Then they go and get "stats"  Here they measure them, determine male or female, and weigh them.  They then report these stats back to the department of wildlife.  This gives the state a great cross section of the states rattlesnake population, numbers, diversity, etc and they can regulate it based on this info!

While at the measuring pit they let people touch the snakes (while immobilizing the head so its safe).  Here is a picture of the girls touching the snake. 

And not to be outdone by my daughters...here is me with the snake draped over one of my shoulders.  If you know me ...you are probably shocked by this picture...I am terrified of snakes.  But somehow I conjured up the courage to do this!  (ignore the fear in my eyes :p)

This is one of the holding pits for the measuring pit.

Thats a lot of snakes...and thats not even all of them...they were bringing them in all weekend!

After the measuring pit the snakes go over to the beheading and skinning pit.  You can pay $20 and let your kid (or yourself) skin a snake and keep the skin.  After you are done you take your bloody hands and make hand prints on the wall and sign them!!!  Only in Texas folks!!!  Mk wanted to do it until she saw this little girl do it and she almost lost her corndog!  

After they are skinned the meat gets fried up and sold, or sold in bulk to people who take it home and use it in their regular cooking!  Eww....we were not brave enough to eat it!

And just for fun...while we were talking to Kyndra after she sang, the Abilene Reporter News snapped this pic of the girls admiring Kyndra's rhinestone encrusted boots!  I loved them to!  Check it out!

HERE

Overall I was not expecting to enjoy the Roundup as much as I did.  I appreciated that the Roundup takes pride in educating people about safety and rattlesnakes in general.  It helped a lot to keep fears rational!  I also love that they help control the snake population!